Kerikeri Street Party scrapped

Kerikeri District Business Association (KKDBA) is “beyond gutted” to learn, with less than six weeks’ notice, that the organiser of the annual Kerikeri Street Party does not intend to run the event this year. Traditionally the event is held on the day of the Kerikeri Half-Marathon, slated this year for Saturday 22 November.

The association says this is another kick in the face for local businesses impacted by a faltering economy and State Highway 1 diversions that will “inevitably” reduce pre-Christmas visitor traffic from Auckland.

“It’s hard to overstate quite how important these events are for our local economy,” said KKDBA Executive member Ann Court.

“Many people travel specifically to Kerikeri and the wider Bay of Islands area to participate in both the half-marathon and the street party. Losing 50 percent of the reason for visiting will doubtless disappoint many and, for sure, will make it more difficult to bring them north again next year.”

The Kerikeri Street Party has been an annual fixture in the town since 2007 with only a few exceptions, the most recent of which was during the COVID pandemic.

Ms Court said the lack of notice and notification would sharpen the disappointment among visitors and locals alike.

She acknowledged that the organiser was totally within its rights to decide not to put on the event, and its assurance that there would be a smaller event at a different location on the night of the half-marathon. But she questioned the lack of notification.

“Given the importance of this event to the local economy, we would have thought that the organiser would have given others a chance to step forward and make it happen. But now, with less than a month to find the funding and put all the arrangements in place, that would be next to impossible.”

KKDBA is now considering how it might help rescue the popular event for future years.

“This is one of those signature events that people plan around year after year, so it demands consistency and certainty,” Ms Court said. “We will certainly be thinking about how we might step into the breach to provide this, and get this much-loved event back onto the calendar for next year and beyond.”